


all caught up (in the highs and the lows)

by orphan_account



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M, One Shot, i love rina 🥺, rina one shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:20:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23803759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Rina one-shot based on the song “about love” by MARINAalso the wonderful Sam (wqndering on twitter) who proof read this and made it 1000x better 🥺
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter
Comments: 12
Kudos: 33





	all caught up (in the highs and the lows)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kindredspiritsxo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kindredspiritsxo/gifts).



It started in one of the strangest ways and Gina hadn’t seen it coming. She was simply trying to have fun at her first homecoming dance (while simultaneously trying to make EJ believe she had a plan to get them the leads in the musical) when Ricky Bowen came for her. She couldn’t understand why he even cared that she took EJ to the dance, shouldn’t he be happy EJ was no longer a threat to him? But instead of being happy, Ricky threw some nasty insults completely unprovoked.

She stormed out of the dance when she no longer could take EJ pestering her about the plan she didn’t even have. And Ricky, of all people, followed her. He apologised and Gina could tell that he was being sincere and then he drove her home. During their short car trip, the atmosphere had shifted from a tense silence to pleasant small, and then about the deep stuff Gina hadn’t shared with anyone else. Once they arrived to her house, something had changed. They had bonded, and shared such intense feelings. Gina couldn’t help but act on them when she kissed him goodbye. 

Suddenly, she was all caught up in the storm that was Ricky Bowen. She was thrilled to be apart of the happy moments like spending time at the skate park and Ricky trying to teach Gina how to skate. And sneaking out at midnight to the cinema because neither one of their parents would notice that they weren’t at home. Even third wheeling Ricky and Red’s endearing bromance in Big Red’s basement. Gina loved all of it. She loved having friends, she loved being included and she loved not having to spend all her free time alone while picking up a new hobby via youtube. 

But with the highs came the lows and Gina couldn’t help but get caught up in them too. At first Ricky had tried to keep her out of his drama, but when Big Red was out of town for the weekend and he had a big fight with his dad about avoiding his mum, Ricky didn’t know who was to turn to. And what else could Gina do but drop everything and come to his rescue. She didn’t know what to say when he was crying in her arms and the advice she gave probably wasn’t helpful at all (thanks to her own home issues she had no right trying to tell Ricky what to do). But she tried and she listened and she let him hold onto her so tight she couldn’t breathe, and that was all Ricky needed from her. 

After his meltdown, Ricky started running to her every time something was wrong. He even sought her out between classes and snuck through her window at night. Eventually, Gina started sharing too. She opened up about how her dad died when she was 10 and about how her real name was Genevieve but her dad had called her Gina and that ever since he passed, she refused to be called anything else. 

They continued sneaking around (maybe for the thrill of it or maybe because they weren’t ready to share about their relationship), but at some point it became less about needing emotional support and more about just enjoying each other’s company. Gina forced him to bake with her and Ricky forced her to watch sappy movies, although she couldn’t really complain much about that, she got to make fun of him for always crying at the end of them. They just clicked. It felt like they’d known each other for years, but were constantly getting to know each other all over again. 

Gina hadn’t really had friends since middle school, so she thought that was all they were—friends. She thought maybe all friends snuck into each other’s bedrooms at night, and woke up closer to each other than Gina thought was even possible. She thought all friends were hyper aware of each and every time they accidentally held hands for too long or kisses on the cheek lingered longer than they should have. Surely all friends felt like their skin was burning when they touched and felt like exploding when they were too near but also too far away. That was just friendship, right? 

But when Gina got closer to Ashlyn, Carlos and the other theatre kids she noticed she didn’t feel the same with them as she did with Ricky. And when she watched them interact it wasn’t at all as her friendship was with Ricky, the intensity and *insert word* wasn’t there. Maybe they weren’t close enough yet, or maybe her and Ricky’s friendship was unique. 

Gina was confused. And it was freaking her out. She had to talk to someone who knew about love. So she turned to Carlos. 

“What’s the difference between love and friendship?” She asked. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean how can you tell if you just really like someone’s friendship or if you’re in love? How did you know?”

“I don’t know, I just knew. I think it was the feeling I get when I’m around him, you know? How it feels like it’s there’s only us in the room, even when it’s crowded. Or when something happens to me the first thing I want to do is tell him. He makes me feel like I’m not just some crazy kid with a ridiculous dream, but someone unstoppable who deserves all the love in the world.” Carlos responded.

When he spoke about his and Seb’s relationship, Gina could see the smile taking over his face. She recognised that smile. She saw it every time she was around Ricky. And she knew that she was completely screwed.

Genevieve Porter was completely and utterly in love with Ricky Bowen.

Gina had never stayed in one place long enough to fall in love, hell she never stayed long enough too even love her friends. And she didn’t have to. No matter how many great people Gina me that could tear down her walls, she always had an out. By the time she could get invested in her relationships, her mum had gotten a job miles away, and Gina didn’t have to think about what could have been ever again. It was routine and Gina couldn’t change that, but she could use it as an excuse to not get attached. 

But this time Gina didn’t have an out. It didn’t seem like they were moving anytime soon, she was stuck in Salt Lake City, with him. But the crazy thing was, she didn’t want to run away this time. Gina wanted to keep on falling in love with Ricky. She wanted to have her epic high school romance that ultimately wouldn’t last but would he worth it anyways. She wanted the passion, the heartbreak and the full experience. This time she didn’t want to run, so she stayed. 

She kept spending all her time with Ricky, and hanging out like nothing had changed. They kept spending nights together in each other’s rooms and evenings in the skate park, sometimes not even skating, just sitting there talking for hours. They spent weeks trying to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe (because it was her favorite) and when they finally succeeded Gina kissed his cheek and baked him enough snickerdoodles (his favorite) to last a lifetime.

But, Gina’s head got messy when she tried to hide the things she loved about him in her mind. Her confusion turned into anger and she started lashing out. She snapped at Ashlyn when she tried to convince her to join the baking club and at Carlos when he kept nagging her about messing up her dance solo. She knew everybody else noticed her sour mood (she could hear some of the dancers whispering about how “She’s turning into her old, bitchy self”). She was even mean to Ricky when he was just trying to cheer her up by taking her to her favorite restaurant after school. And that’s when he had enough.

“Gina you’ve been lashing out on all of your friends lately when we’re only trying to help! I thought you would come to me when you were ready, but it’s been a week and I’ve had enough!” He shouted in the school parking lot. 

“It’s none of your business!” She shouted back, frustration evident in her voice.

Ricky looked hurt when she said it. She almost wanted to take it back, but then he continued.

“What do you mean it’s none of my business? That’s bullshit Gina and you know it. You can’t just expect me to come to you every time something is wrong in my life, but then shut me out when you’re going through something! That’s not how friendship works. I won’t let this become one sided.” 

“Don’t you lecture me about friendship. It’s not like you’re any better than I am. You take Big Red for granted and forget about your friends as soon as Nini leads you on yet again!” 

“That’s not tr-“

“Yes it is! And don’t you dare deny it!”

“At least I can admit when I’m wrong! And I don’t yell at my friends for trying to help me!”

“I didn’t ask you for your help, Ricky! Has it ever crossed your mind that you might not be able to help me with this? In fact spending every minute of every day with you is making it worse. If you really wanted to help you would just leave me alone!” Gina said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Ricky calmed down a bit when he saw her tears.

“You don’t mean that. Why can’t you just tell me what’s wrong?” He practically begged. All he wanted to do was to help her as she helped him. 

“Because it will ruin everything!” Gina was sobbing now. Everything she had bottled up was coming out.

“Whatever it is won’t ruin anything Gina. You’re so important to me whatever it is it’ll be okay.” He was hugging her now. And Gina wanted to believe him, she wanted to believe him so bad. 

“I don’t want to talk. Can we just stop talking? Talking’s making everything worse.” she sobbed. 

“Of course, whatever you need, Gigi.” 

Ricky took Gina home and he stayed with her until she fell asleep. When she woke up he was gone, but he had left a note behind:

I had plans with my dad this morning so I had to go, but we’ll talk about this later Gina. Keep your window unlocked I’m coming over tonight. 

-Icky Ricky

Shit, she thought. She had a full on mental breakdown in front of him. There was no way she could hide it anymore. Ricky could read her like an open book, even if she didn’t tell him tonight he would find out sooner rather than later. All she could do now was prepare for the heartbreak that was coming her way. Because there was no possible way that Ricky loved her back. He was still hung up on Nini even if he didn’t realise it. He still talked about her like she was the best person he had ever met. He loved Nini, not her. And, for Gina, it hurt like hell. But, it was okay because Ricky was happy.

Gina Porter didn’t really know a lot about love, but it was in her head and in her blood. And it felt so good, but hurt so much. She got lost in it and found the greatest feeling in the world. Gina knew Ricky could never love her back, but he didn’t need to. She finally knew what love was, and she had hope that one day she would find someone who would love her as she loved them. And maybe it would last forever or maybe a minute, but it would be love. Because love was out there and available even for her. 

When the night fell, Ricky snuck in through her window, just as he had promised to in his note. She invited him in and they sat down together on her bed. Their shoulders were touching and it was driving Gina insane. She felt like she was on fire. The only way to put it out was to say it out loud. So she did. 

“Ricky, I love you…”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! pls leave comments if you want to i’d love feedback 🥰


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